Kurds want ISIL defeated, but Assad as our top ally

The Kurds are our friends. They protect American journalists and are the bastion of sanity left in the war-torn portion of Syria. It was an interesting and telling moment during the second debate when Hillary Clinton communicated some apprehension in “some circles” about increasing arms to the Kurds.

The Kurds do not have a political objective to remove Assad, they do, however, have an objective to defeat ISIL. They’re the most active and competent group on the ground in the fight against ISIL. It’s likely not possible to take Raqqa, the heart of ISIL, without them. Unless, we commit U.S. forces to do the job.

From a strategic perspective, it might not be the in the best interest of the Kurds to make a real push to Raqqa, yet, because factions within the Syrian opposition have expressed that the Kurds may be an enemy. Perhaps Sunni militia would willingly work alongside the Kurds to remove ISIL, a threat to everyone, but then would they go their separate ways? The rebels want to inherit Syria, not partition a piece of it to the Kurds. Luckily, I bet the Kurds would be able to defend themselves from the Syrian opposition. But maybe not if the rebels jointly battle the Kurds alongside Al-Nusra who continues to gain strength in Syria.

The Kurdish people are well aware that a transitional government of moderate rebels will not have their best interests at heart. For what possible reason would they remove Assad? It’s long been known as a real possibility in the region that removing Assad would unleash a reciprocal war. This war would lack the organization of this one. It’d be worse and more heartbreaking. The second and third order effects of removing the Assad regime would be a disaster, according to the Kurds. The Kurds have a rational and objective grasp of the situation on the ground.

If we abandon the Kurds we will have lost, maybe only temporarily, our only true ally in this fight. As the Kurds want ISIL gone but not Assad, conflict with the Syrian opposition may be inevitable. The question we must ask ourselves is, are we willing to support a Kurdish state, or not?

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Steve S

Good question. Perhaps the Kurds' position towards Assad may keep the bear from coming after them

Jim R

Yeah, the geniuses with a capital "J". God help us if we didn't have their insight, we might have generated some goodwill and made some headway. Nah, better to tactically nuke every one of our dwindling number of bridges...

Fred82

Who are these moderate rebels we keep hearing about that are going to take over Syria if Assad goes?
In situations like the one in Syria, the most dedicated and capable factions tend to rise to the top. In Syria, those factions aren't the moderates.

Kristie G

sigh .... the cartoon while funny is so true .... how is it that we are aware of these things and yet they continue ... our government doesn't deserve the good men and women who put themeslves in harms way ;-( makes me SO mad